Jeremy O. Harris will lead Williamstown Theatre Festival [Broadway Journal]

http://broadwayjournal.com/jeremy-o-harris-lands-starring-role-at-williamstown-exclusive/

"In an out-of-the-box hire to revive one of the nation’s preeminent summer theaters, the playwright, producer and actor Jeremy O. Harris has been tapped to program the Williamstown Theatre Festival, a person familiar with the company said.

The 34-year-old Slave Play playwright will lead a “creative collective” at the 70-year-old Western Massachusetts institution, which in recent years has been a prime tryout venue for Broadway.

His role isn’t expected to involve line producing. In February, Williamstown posted an opening for a managing director to oversee production, budgeting and fundraising — one of two managing directors with overlapping responsibilities to run the company. A Williamstown spokesman declined to comment for this story."

I appreciate Williamstown taking a big swing, as long as they actually have the money to install a robust enough staff and give him big enough budgets to do what he wants. Nothing about the 2023 and 2024 programming indicates money, but JOH might attract some donors.

The real question is will his sensibilities align with the largely older & white people who vacation in the Berkshires in the summertimes?

A "creative collective" is a good idea because it means one person isn't unilaterally controlling all the artistic decisions, so when that person leaves they're not starting from square one in terms of developing work. But then, sometimes, you get groupthink or infighting within said collective.

We'll see how it goes!

Updated On: 5/10/24 at 11:44 PM

Amber Heard & Brandon Flynn to lead Jeremy O'Harris's new play SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE